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| Image from the Intermountain Jewish News |
Rabbi Goldberg has managed to transmit his values to his son, Rabbi Chaim Goldberg. I base this on the fact that he has published his own commentaries on the Jewish world and found them to be similar to his father.
What I wasn’t aware of is that Chaim apparently made Aliyah and now lives in Israel. And has joined the IDF in one of their Charedi units.
I’m not sure how Chaim would describe himself. Perhaps he is a Centrist or a moderate Charedi. But he is very knowledgeable Jewishly; clearly someone that is Medakdek - very careful about his religious obligations; and someone that thinks for himself. He recognizes the gross injustice of boycotting army service in a country under constant siege by deadly enemies.
Chaim has written an article in the Intermountain Jewish News about his experiences there that should put to rest all the excuses made by the Charedi leadership for boycotting it. It isn’t just about taking ‘Lomdei Torah’ (those that study Torah diligently full time) out of the Beis HaMedrash. That seemed to be the mantra for opposing IDF service and used as part of their clarion call in raising the 100 million dollars in government funding they lost for boycotting it.
That may be important but secondary. The primary reason seems to be that the army will make a ‘Goy’ out of you. Meaning that if you go in Charedi, you will come out secular. The army’s cultural influences will disabuse you of your religious beliefs and observances.
I have been trying to refute that narrative in a variety of ways for some time now. But Rabbi Chaim Goldberg gives us a first hand account of what really goes on in IDF Charedi units that should dispel any fears about your Charedim going OTD there. Here are a few excerpts that tell the story:
Since December, I’ve engaged in numerous dialogues, including with Agudath Israel’s spokesman, roshei kollel from Ramat Eshkol and Har Nof… the bottom-line issues I hear revolve around da’as Torah’s opposition to the army’s secular ethos.
Hesder yeshivot go a long way toward debunking the secularization concern…
I’ve now seen firsthand how (claims) that the army has an agenda to secularize – do not represent faithful understandings of what army service would look like for charedim…
(Do) Charedi youth… become frei, irreligious?
My experience? Every commander was charedi or devoutly dati-leumi. There was zero interaction between genders. Time to learn Torah each day. All food had a high-level mehadrin hashgacha (Landau, Rubin, etc.). For anyone who didn’t want to rely on that, they even brought pre-wrapped Eidah Charedis meals! Davening with a minyan three times a day. Many comrades whose children are in charedi schools, remarked that they davened with a minyan more frequently than they do in civilian life…
One commander repeatedly stressed that our yiras shamayim (awe of Heaven) should not diminish one bit during our army service. “And if we feel it does?” asked one soldier. “Then leave your unit and find a different unit with a commander sensitive to your particular religious needs,” was the unexpected reply.
In short, the IDF agenda of today has nothing to do with the IDF agenda of some of Israel’s secular founding fathers, who did in fact want the IDF to secularize religious Jews into some sort of melting pot version of an Israeli unburdened by religious observances.
Then there is this. The idea that the wording in the Hatikvah (Israel’s national anthem) of ‘Lehiot Am Chofshi - ‘To be a free people’ is not intended to mean free of Mitzvah observance. Not every phrase in the Hatikvah is an ideological statement. And if you are still uncomfortable saying those words you can substitute ‘free nation’ with ‘Jewish nation’ or ‘Torah nation.’ (Or as my Rebbe Rav Ahron Soloveichik preferred, ‘Lehiot Am Kodshi’ - ‘to be a holy nation’. Hatikvah was sung at every Brisk banquet substituting those words.)
Another charge the Charedi world levels at the IDF is that they do not recognize God’s hand in their victories. That they think it is their own physical prowess in war that gives them victory - ‘Kochi v' Otzem Yodi’. That too was debunked by Rabbi Goldberg by the following experience:
…we were in training the night that Hamas’s Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah’s second-in-command Fuad Shukr were assassinated. We were called to a special formation immediately upon waking up. The message? To thank Hashem for these miracles during Shacharis. We were stopped later in the day – twice, by two separate commanders – to recite Mizmor l’Todah, the Psalm of thanksgiving. “We are not an army of kochi v’otzem yadi,” a different commander emphasized.
As the war rages on, and the future looks uncertain, Israel needs manpower now more than ever. It is no secret that the IDF is a citizen/soldier army composed largely of reservists that must leave their jobs and families to help protect their country.
That they have been overburdened beyond all reason is not arguable. It is an indisputable fact. The old argument made by many Charedim that the IDF doesn’t really want them anyway has been debunked as well. Every Charedi that joins the IDF frees up a reservist who has been in IDF service way too long. If there is going to be any justice in the Charedi world they must pursue a policy whereby they share the burden with other Jews - both religious and secular.
They must allow a sufficient number of their young to be drafted. As things stand now, the Charedi world will become a pariah to the vast majority of Israelis who are not Charedi. If it hasn’t already. I just hope it isn’t too late. And that the leadership opens up their eyes to see what Rabbi Chaim Goldberg has personally witnessed. And they finally have a change of heart. What will it take?
